“Critter Party” is the debut solo album by Dan Hayhurst, one half of eccentric audio visual duo Sculpture. Where Sculpture come across as a kaleidoscopic exaggeration of our media saturated milieu: audio collage, noise and sleek techno built into a strange overdriven universe, Critter Party latches onto the human at the centre of it.
Flourishes of hand percussion, as on album opener ‘Vying‘, or glimpses of acoustic guitar, present moments of live instrumentation rarely heard on the more synthesised and sample heavy Sculpture records. Although undoubtedly grounded in the avant-garde end of electronic music, through all the saturation and tape manipulation Critter Party feels connected to something personal.
"Where Sculpture come across as a kaleidoscopic exaggeration of our media saturated milieu: audio collage, noise and sleek techno built into a strange overdriven universe, Critter Party latches onto the human at the centre of it."
From the twinkling piano melody looped over warm tape detritus on ‘Great Day Atonal Soda‘, to the burbling synth wobbles of ‘Azo‘, Critter Party sounds like the GRM studio had made soundtracks to Disney movies.
The mundane is twisted, pulled, magnified and warped into something cartoonish and gripping. Sound is toyed with, but where Parmegiani, Schaeffer and Henry’s concrete explorations were rooted in academia, Critter Party’s melodic heart means it never drifts far from the essence of pop music.
"Although undoubtedly grounded in the avant-garde end of electronic music, through all the saturation and tape manipulation Critter Party feels connected to something personal."
‘Library Raid‘ takes a micro second electric guitar loop and stretches it out into a surreal funk jam. ‘Proliferating Ulm‘ meanwhile pulls minimal techno drum machine and synth stabs into pastoral psychedelia.
Featured track ‘Polyphase‘ is perhaps the most energetic on the album. Starting with what sounds like a battered toy synth playing a hoedown, it develops into a fully fledged disco workout. Sheer repetition quickly lulls you into its relentless groove. As more and more sound is added, frantic percussion putting the track on the brink of chaos, it skilfully just avoids going over the edge. It’s a precarious yet thrilling balancing act, which is played out throughout Critter Party.
Critter Party is out now on LTR, order a vinyl copy here.
TRACKLIST
A1. Vying
A2. Great Day Atonal Soda
A3. Library Raid
A4. Proliferating Ulm
B1. Polyphase
B2. Fern Gang
B3. Azo
B4. Unravelling
Discover more about Dan Hayhurst and LTR Records on Inverted Audio.